Analysis- general campaigns

The first general campaign that I am analysing is part of the ‘think’ campaign run by the department of transport. THINK! provides road safety information for road users. Their aim is to encourage safer behaviour to reduce the number of people killed and injured on Britain’s roads every year. I have chosen to analyse the ‘drink driving’ part think’s campaign. An important aspect of the campaign to point out straight away is the name of the campaign group ‘THINK!’. Essentially their main aim is to get road users to think about their actions, and the use of the name ‘think’ is effective because it literally makes the audience think.

The link to the television advert

• Pub loo shocker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TADO4LG29bs

The name of the of the advert firstly gives an idea to the audience as to what it will entail- shock. Although this is an advert and many would have seen it on the television, it created a rather large storm over the internet and people who did not see it on the tv may have been interested to watch it after seeing the name ‘pub loo shocker’ this is intriguing using the word ‘shocker’ in the same few words as ‘pub loo’ creates a sense of curiosity as perhaps the audience just think it will be drunk people doing something funny however when they see the advert they will be surprised and shocked and will thus remember it which is the aim. The fact that that it is called ‘pub loo shocker’ is short and snappy and easily remembered thus people may tell their friends about it considering the shock it gives. The fact that it is also short and snappy is useful in the fact it can be used as a hashtag on twitter for people to talk about. It is a memorable name and sums up the advert in three words.

This part of the advert shows a man entering toilets in a pub. The audience is not intrigued as to why he is actually going into the toilets as this is of course normal, they are intrigued as to why the camera is showing the man going into the toilet. They are likely to ask themselves is something going to happen.

Some may not ask themselves ‘is something going to happen’ they may think nothing of the fact a man is in a pub going to the toilet. But the dull grey colour affect on the pub creates a sense of mystery and is almost depressing.

The fact that no company name or product name is shown, leaves the audience in the unknown and thus intrigues them as to what the advert is about.

The normal setting with background noise is yet to add suspense as the environment seems friendly and there are lots of people.

The décor of the pub is nice and makes the audience feel comfortable and familiar as many people go to pubs to have a good time with their friends- this almost proves the point of the advert and of the drink drive campaign. You think you’re going out to have a good time and then everything can fall to pieces in the space of a second. This is why they have used a friendly environment for only the first second or so of the advert; to emphasise the point that everything can change very

quickly.

The creators of this video have also used this friendly environment to create a great contrast between this area and the cold dingy environment of the toilet.

Although this pub area is a comfortable and almost friendly environment, the use of the dull black and white grey affect implies to the audience that its not all happy and jolly and that something may happen. The use of this affect on the pub emphasises the point that bad things can happen to good people and although everything seems happy now, drink driving can have a ‘black’(relating to the colour of the pub) affect on anyone. The colour black is usually related to evil, mystery and darkness which includes the fear of the unknown- this therefore implies the fear of the unknown when the man enters the toilet, or could also imply the ‘unknown’ when drink driving and what could easily happen.

The man enters the toilet and there is a sudden contrast. The background noise that the audience could previously here when the man was in the pub has suddenly gone. There is a feeling of coldness and dullness.

The camera angle, looks down on the toilet and faces the focus to the mirror. This suggests that something will happen around this area in the toilet. The man also glances towards the mirror suggesting to the audience that something will happen around this area or in the mirror and this warns the audience.

The fact the scene takes place in a toilet where it appears no one else is makes the audience feel anxious for the man as he has no help and is alone-this adds to the suspense and also makes the setting feel lonely and cold.

Again the use of a black and white affect makes the setting look dull which suggests to the audience something bad-if it was bright and colourful they would be inclined to think the advert was positive.

This man is dressed as if he has a good job- a businessman in a suit. This suggests anyone can be apart of drink driving and anyone can be the victim as later on in the advert other men who look different, of different age and background are shown

The man flushes the toilet and goes to wash his hands this creates suspense as the audience are waiting for something to happen and it continues to not.

The man is wearing grey dark clothes to add to the dull effect given by the colour of the scene.

The man goes to wash his hands and is suddenly confronted by something smashing through a mirror replicating the sound of a crash. This creates a massive sense of shock, is rather scary and is therefore memorable to the audience, when I first watched it I jumped out of my skin and I believe now I will remember it for a long time.

The audience does not know at this point what has crashed into the mirror however they have now guessed that it is probably trying to replicate a car crash due to the terrifying sound smash of the window made.

The man jumps away from the mirror and is extremely shocked and horrified as to what he is facing(the audience are yet to properly see this) This makes the audience feel sorry for the man and this will therefore put the message in their head that they should not drink and drive because if it leads to an accident it can also have an affect on the person who was drink driving and not just the victim.

The audience immediately makes a comparison between what is thought to be a crash noise and alcohol because it is clear that the man was In a pub. The connection is therefore made about ‘drink driving’ and the immediate sudden shock could make someone who is drinking alcohol as they see the advert and planning to drive not do so this could therefore potentially save lives and thus reduce the deaths of people on the roads in britain- think!’s main aim.

The camera shot then reveals what the audience was thinking. The smashed open mirror showing a dead women replicates a car crash and the smashing of a windscreen. The aim of this campaign is to reduce the number of injuries and deaths on the road and due to the fact many of these injuries and deaths are down to drink driving the campaigners began this advert in a pub ; in order to make it clear the message they are trying to get across is to not drink drive.

The woman who’s face is shown through the smashed mirror is haunting to the audience and thus memorable. The idea is that because this advert uses such a shock technique people will remember it and if they are drinking and about to enter their car, they will stop as this horrifying advert will come back to them and remind them of the consequences.

The blood makes the situation seem real and again adds to the shock. Making the audience feel sorry for the victim and the man who has just witnessed this dreadful event. This will make the audience not want to go through this as they have seen the shock to the man and the affect that drink driving can have on both parties.

The fact that the victim is a young woman makes the audience feel even more sympathetic and almost annoyed towards alcohol as stereotypically females are innocent and vulnerable which is why a female has been used within this advert.

The fact that the victim looks straight through the mirror at the camera warns the audience not to do this to other people. She almost looks angry and is implying ‘this is what drink driving can do don’t do it again/ don’t let their be another victim’

The fact the red blood has been ‘placed’ against the white sink, creates a huge contrast and emphasises the point that it is blood and makes the reader horrified.

The replicate of the crash and the woman smashing through the mirror repeats again. This is another shock to the audience as they thought it was over and now they have been terrified and horrified again. The fact that this was repeated makes it more memorable and suggests that accidents due to drink driving happens a lot as it is in the same pub toilet. Emphasising what alcohol can do.

The man is completely shocked and the word is beeped out but it is obvious he swears. This was done on purpose to show the audience how shocked the man was making them feel sorry for him and thus not want to go through this themselves and this will therefore put them off drink driving. The fact that another man who looks as if he is from a different walk of life is used shows that this can happen to anyone.

The victim is still a young women which makes the audience again feel sorry for the victim as she is innocent and vulnerable.

The fact that this is repeated for the third time, this time with another man as the witness increases the shock factor. It once again scares the audience and makes them remember the advert.

The man is extremely shocked and actually falls on the floor this makes the audience feel sorry for the man and will make them not want to drink drive as they will not want to or feel like this. Although what is implied as a dead victim is obviously not a real person and not dead the fact that this keeps happening in these toilet shows to the audience how much drink driving can effect people and it shows it can kill.

This rhetorical question directly addresses the audience ‘your’ and therefore makes them think and makes them ask themselves the question in their head.

The writing is white and stands out against the pitch black background. This means the question id clear to the audience but also the black suggests darkness and negative(ness) which is what drink-driving can lead to

The question is written in capital letters and thus stands out clearly to the audience. The fact that it is the only thing on the screen emphasises the point that it could have an impact-makes it clear to the reader.

The question asked suggests anything can happen to anyone. Someone just goes on a ‘night out’ to have fun with their friends, however one drink could make a massive difference and could lead to killing people, and after what they have just seen the audience will feel extremely guilty to even think about drink-driving.

The use of the word ‘impact’ is significant as they will ask themselves ‘what impact’ could a drink have and after watching the replicates of three different car crash’s this will worry them that it could have that impact and will therefore in future dissuade people not to drink-drive. The fact that the word ‘impact’ is used also implies that there will definitely be an impact and this again dissuades the audience not to drink-drive.

The campaigners/ campaign name is ‘think!’ this is in bright yellow thus a commonly used colour for a warning sign suggesting if they(the audience) do not think something bad will happen like what was showed to them in this advert. ‘Think!’ literally makes the audience think about their actions and perhaps the audience just see this advert as they are drinking and about to go out and drive- they may see this and ‘think’ not too thus saving someone’s life.

The exclamation mark emphasises the point to the reader that they must ‘think’ about what they are doing.

This end shot is not overpowered with information and therefore the message is clear ‘don’t drink and drive’ written in large and in white thus standing out against the black background. The imperative ‘don’t’ is essentially telling the audience not to do something.

The alliteration ‘don’t drink and drive’ makes the message memorable and stand out in the audience’s mind. The sentence stands out and therefore the audience listen to it.

#publooshocker allows the audience to use social networking to talk about the advert consequently leading to the issue being talked about and raising awareness of drink driving but also raising awareness of the actual advert meaning people will watch the advert thus continuing to raise awareness

The previous slide show the campaign website. The website contains all the conventions of a website and information about other campaigns which will lead people to finding out about more safety issues with it being think!’s aim to encourage safer behaviour to reduce the number of people killed and injured on Britain’s roads every year., this is useful as they will find out more about different aspects of road safety and not just drink driving.

‘Think!’ the campaigners name encourages the audience to think whilst reading about drink driving.

Information explains that there were still 230 deaths on the road due to drink driving. This makes the audience feel sorry for the victims as it is likely to have not been their fault. It also says that drink driving accounts to 12% of road fatalities. This shows that drink driving has a dramatic affect on the road when it could be avoided.

The web page also gives the audience the facts making them aware that any amount of alcohol has an affect on their body and also explains the law and consequences. This is likely to benefit their campaign in that if people are aware of the consequences and the law they are less likely to drink drive. If they find out about the law they are also likely to tell friends when their friends have been drinking not to drive as they would not want their friends to get in trouble thus potentially preventing deaths on the road due to drink driving.

The consequences in some cases are serious and therefore would lead people not to want to commit the crime of drink driving.

There are also links to videos which use a shock dissuading people not to drink drive like the previous one I analysed.

This advice is part of the think! Website. This makes the audience feel that they care and will therefore respect what the campaign has asked of them.

The advice is also useful and helpful and thus actually helps people in making the correct decisions thus making the aim of the campaign a success.

The use of the yellow at each point warns the audience. Yellow is a colour commonly used to warn and this therefore has a beneficial effect as the audience may think if they do those things something bad will happen.

They are statements in which the audience can relate to and therefore they feel as if people know how they feel and are more likely to respect what is being asked of them.

Each of these posters are part of the ‘don’t drink and drive’ ‘think!’ campaign. Each are similar in that they follow the same theme thus making the campaign recognisable to the audience for example if they see one poster and have previously seen the other they will immediately recognise it as they are each very similar. One poster talks of the employment consequences drink driving will have, one talks of the criminal consequences and one talks of the financial consequences.

The poster on the previous slide talks of the employment consequences, a person can come across after drink driving.

Obviously not in all cases all these consequences written at the bottom of the poster occur but they are used to scare and shock the audience consequently leading people to not drink drive as they will not want these consequences to happen to them.

‘the officer who charges you with drink driving’ is likely to scare the audience as they do not want to come across a police officer and be charged with something as this will leave them with a criminal record. This therefore tries to persuade the audience not to drink drive.

‘the dvla employee who cancels your licence’ this again scares the audience as they will not want their licence to be cancelled. A car is very important and it necessary in many people’s lives and this therefore is an effective way in stopping people from drink driving.

‘the HR manager who hands you your p45’ this again scares the audience as this is something a person receives when leaving their employer. This emphasises the consequences of drink driving and will make the audience not want to do so because they may loose their job which would have an extreme effect on many people’s lives.

‘the job centre advisor who explains you’ve limited you employment options’ this scares the audience as working is how someone earns their living and thus gets through life, supporting themselves and family and children. If someone has limited their employment options they are less likely to get a well-paid job or will find it more difficult to get a job. This will scare the audience and will thus lead them to not want to drink drive.

Above each of these statements there is the necessary person who the statement talks about. They are looking directly at the audience and using the technique of direct address. They look intimidating and this scares the audience even more. They are almost warning the person off and to not drink drive.

The fact that a bit of each person’s face is used represents the amount of trouble the audience will get in and the different consequences drink driving holds. Although these are not the exact people who will deal with the audience if they were to be caught drink driving, the audience will automatically think of their employer etc when reading the statements and the aim of this is to put them off drink driving

The think sign is placed in the bottom of the poster this continues to make the campaign recognisable and leads the audience to actually think about the issue as they are being told to ‘think’ it is in yellow and therefore implies a ‘warning’ as this is a colour with connotations of warning people.

‘drink drive and face employment consequences’ puts the message across clearly to the audience. The sentence directly tells them if they drink drive they will face consequences in employment which will inevitably worry many people and put them off drink driving.

If someone who is about to drink drive and had already seen this poster the image of the different faces looking at them and almost ‘judging’ them or ‘telling them off’ will come into their minds and hopefully deter them from drink driving thus potentially saving lives.

The use of the colour black as the background continues the colour used in the tv advert at the end. It suggests if someone drinks and drives it will lead to ‘black’ which has connotations of evil and dullness. It almost implies a black hole which colour relate to death. It also however makes the faces stand out.

Analysis- community campaigns

The previous slide shows a website for a group which campaigns to ‘tidy up’ communities and areas around Britain.

The use of the colour green relates to the subject of the ‘tidy up’. As they are tidying up areas to make them a better place, green is a colour which relates to nature and thus as soon as the audience reach this page they will get an idea as to what the campaign is about.

Green is also a bright colour and thus appeals to both genders within the target audience. The green also represents the ethos of the campaign as it is bright and the campaign is positive and about making the communities of Britain a better place.

‘ the big tidy up’ which is the name of the campaign directly implies to the audience as to what the campaign is about. ‘tidy up’ implies that something is being tidied up and ‘big’ implies it is a tidy up on a large scale; thus implying to the audience that the tidy up is all over the country, which it is.

‘love where you live’ makes the audience want to get involved as they feel they should respect the area and love the area in which they live. The alliteration makes the message stick in their minds and they are given an incentive if they get involved in the tidying up of their area they will be able to ‘love’ even more where they live.

The contrast of the black and the green in ‘the big tidy up’ makes the word ‘big’ stand out and thus emphasises to the audience that the tidy up is ‘big’ intriguing them and causing them to feel admiration that people are trying to make britain as a whole a tidier place including lots of different communities

The bumble bee almost speaks ‘the big tidy up’ this creates a cute affect and is friendly. The audience feels comfortable and seeing the bee they may say ‘awww’ and want to register.

‘get ready for a big tidy up’ is at the top half of the webpage meaning the audience see it first. This makes the audience want to get involved and there is a link in capital letters that says ‘register now’ this makes it easy for the audience to register as it is written clearly right at the top of the

page.

‘find a tidy up near you’ suggests to the audience that there are tidy ups all over the country and makes it more likely for them to get involved as there is a ‘tidy up’ likely to be ‘near’ them. The map next to this statement emphasises the fact that there are lots of different tidy ups around the country and thus persuades people to get involved.

‘join in today’ is written clearly and bodly and is in the middle of the page therefore immediately attracting the attention of the audience. This is asking again for people to join in and therefore they have asked themselves the question again as to whether they want to join in. The reminder persuades the audience and makes them feel guilty if they don’t.

The girl at the top of the page looks extremely happy and thus makes the audience fell if they get involved they will be happy too. It also makes them want to maintain her happiness and will make them feel guilty If they don’t get involved as she may no longer be happy anymore as the tidy up is not continuing or there are not enough volunteers - this is the connection they will possibly make which will lead them to want to register and get involved.